“A  great  Need  of  our  Time — who  will  supply  it  ?  ” 

Andrew  D.  White. 


OUTLIN®:«^^ 


OF  A  PROPOSED 


- 


'^tty 


READ  BEFORE  THE 


Philadelphia  Social  Science  Association, 

BY 


EDMUND  J.  JAMES,  Ph.  D., 

PROFESSOR  OF  PUBLIC  FINANCE  AND  ADMINISTRATION 

IN 

THE  WHARTON  SCHOOL  OF  FINANCE  AND  ECONOMY, 
UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

PHILADELPHIA,  1885. 


PHILADELPHIA: 

SPANGLER  A  DAVIS,  BOOK  AND  JOB  PRINTERS, 
627  <ft  529  COMMERCE  8T. 


PAPERS  READ  BEFORE  THE  ASSOCIATION. 


Papers  out  of  Print  are  not  included  in  this  List. 


The  work  of  the  Constitutional  Convention,  By  A.  Sydney  Biddle. 

What  shall  Philadelphia  do  with  its  Paupers  ^  By  Dr.  Isaac  Ray. 

Proportional  Representation.  By  S.  Dana  Horton. 

Statistics  Relating  to  Births,  Deaths,  Alarriares,  etc.,  in  Philadelphia,  By  John 
Stockton  Hough,  M.  D. 

On  the  Value  of  Original  Scientific  Research.  By  Dr.  Ruschenberger. 

On  the  Relative  Influence  of  City  and  Country  Life  on  Morality,  Health,  Fecun¬ 
dity,  Longevity,  and  Morality.  By  John  Stockton  Hough,  M.  D. 

The  Public  School  System  of  Philadelphia.  By  James  S.  Whitney. 

The  Utility  of  Government  Geological  Surveys.  By  Prof.  J.  P.  Lesley. 

The  Law  of  Partnership.  By  J.  G.  Rosengarten. 

Methods  of  Valuation  of  Real  Estate  for  Taxation.  By  Thomas  Cochran. 

Ihe  Merits  of  Cremation.  By  Persifor  Frazer,  Jr.  % 

Outlines  of  Penology.  By  Joseph  R.  Chandler. 

Hygiene  of  the  Eye,  Considered  with  Reference  to  the  Children  in  our  Schools.  By 
Dr.  F.  D.  Castle. 

The  Relative  Morals  of  City  and  Country.  By  William  S.  Pierce. 

Silk  Culture  and  Home  Industry.  By  Dr.  Samuel  Chamberlaine. 

Mind  Reading,  etc.  By  Persifor  Frazer,  Jr. 

Legal  Status  of  Married  Women  in  Pennsylvania.  By  N.  D.  Miller. 

The  Revised  Statutes  of  the  United  States.  By  Lorin  Blodget. 

Training  of  Nurses  for  the  Sick.  By  John  H.  Packard,  M.  D. 

The  Advantages  of  the  Co-operative  Feature  of  Btcilding  Associations.  By  E. 
Wrigley. 

The  Operations  of  our  Building  Associations.  By  Joseph  I.  Doran. 

Free  Coinage  and  a  Self-Adjusting  Ratio.  By  Thomas  Balch. 

Building  System  for  Great  Cities.  By  Lorin  Blodget. 

Metric  System.  By  Persifor  Frazer,*Jr. 

Cause  and  Cure  of  Hard  Times.  By  R.  J.  Wright. 

House -Drainage  and  Sewerage.  By  George  E.  Waring,  Jr. 

A  Plea  for  a  State  Board  of  Health.  By  Benjamin  Lee,  M.  D. 

The  Germ-Theory  of  Disease,  and  its  Present  Bearing  upon  Public  and  Personal 
Hygiene.  By  Joseph  G.  Richardson,  M.  D. 

Technical  Education.  By  A.  C,  Rembaugh,  M.  D. 

The  English  Methods  of  Legislation  Compared  zvith  the  American.  By  S.  Sterne, 
Thoughts  on  the  Labor  Question.  By  Rev.  D,  O.  Kellogg. 

On  the  Isolation  of  Persons  in  Hospitals  for  the  Insane.  By  Dr.  Isaac  Ray. 
Philadelphia  Charity  Organization.  By  Rev.  Wm.  H.  Hodge. 

Public  Schools  in  their  Relations  to  the  Comnnmity .  By  James  S.  Whitney. 
Industrial  and  Decorative  Art  in  Public  Schools.  By  Charles  G.  Leland. 

Penal  and  Reformatory  Institutions.  By  J.  G,  Rosengarten. 

Nominations  for  Public  Ofiice.  By  Mayer  Sulzberger, 

Municipal  Government.  By  John  C.  Bullitt. 

Apprenticeship  as  it  Was  and  Is.  By  Addison  B.  Burk. 

I’he  American  Aristocracy.  By  Lincoln  L.  Eyre. 

A  Plea  for  a  New  City  Hospital.  By  Thomas  W.  Barlow. 

The  Pending  School  Problems.  By  Professor  M.  B.  Snyder. 

Municipal  Governmezit.  By  Wm.  Righter  Fisher. 

Social  Condition  of  the  Industrial  Classes.  By  Lorin  Blodget. 

Progress  of  Industrial  Edtication.  By  Philip  C.  Garrett. 

A  Plea  for  Better  Distribution.  By  Charles  M.  Du  Puy. 

Milk  Supply  of  our  Large  Cities,  etc.,  etc.  By  J.  Cheston  Morris,  M.  D. 

Alcohol.  By  A.  C.  Rembaugh 

Outline  of  a  Proposed  School  of  Political  and  Social  Science.  By  Edmund  T. 
James,  Ph.  D. 


0 


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*  ^ 


•3 

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OUTLINE  OF  A  PROPOSED  SCHOOL  OF 
POLITICAL  AND  SOCIAL  SCIENCE. 


In  few  countries  in  the  world  is  the  study  of  Political  Sci¬ 
ence  so  universal  as  in  America.  It  is  represented  in  some  of 
,  its  branches  in  all  grades  of  educational  institutions,  from  the 
elementary  school  of  the  rural  district  to  the  college  and  univer¬ 
sity.  It  is  studied  not  only  by  those  boys  who  expect  to  make 
a  profession  of  law  and  politics,- but  by  those  who  intend  to  fol¬ 
low  other  professions  and  callings  as  well.  The  future  clergy¬ 
man,  physician,  merchant,  college  professor — of  whatever  branch 
— have  all  studied  Political  Economy  and  Constitutional  Law,  if 
'  they  finished  a  college  course  before  taking  up  their  professional 
study.  The  future  civil  engineer,  chemist,  geologist  and  mining 
engineer  have  all  given  more  or  less  attention  to  these  subjects 
if  they  prepared  themselves  for  their  work  in  a  higher  technical 
^  school  or  college.  The  artisan,  carpenter,  mason,  cabinet-maker 
and  clerk,  so  far  as  they  have  finished  the  average  high  school 
\  course  in  our  towns  and  cities,  are  also  acquainted  with  the  ele- 
ments  of  the  same  subjects,  and  in  some  of  our  states  even  the 
ungraded  country  schools  offer  a  certain  amount  of  instruction 
in  these  branches.  Nor  do  our  schools  rest  content  with  offer¬ 
ing  such  instruction  to  the  boys,  but,  so  far  as  they  are  mixed 
schools,  the  same  advantages  are  open  to  the  girls,  and  even  the 
schools  exclusively  for  girls  nearly  all  incorporate  these  subjects 
in  their  curricula. 

The  study  of  such  subjects  is  not  by  any  means  confined  to 
the  schools.  Besides  those  individuals,  to  be  found  in  every 
society,  who  take  up  the  study  of  Political  Science  merely  from 
love  for  it,  there  are  several  organizations  in  the  United  States 
which  have  been  formed  for  the  special  purpose  of  encouraging 

{  3  ) 


4 


such  study  in  the  mass  of  the  people,  and  several  other  organiza¬ 
tions  which  give  more  or  less  attention  to  the  same  general  end. 
The  newspapers,  debating  clubs  and  lyceums  all  contribute 
powerfully  towai'd  exciting  and  maintaining  a  general  interest 
in  Political  Science. 

The  reason  for  such  wide-spread  interest  is,  of  course,  not 
far  to  seek.  In  a  republic  based  upon  universal  suffrage,  it  is 
but  fair  to  demand  that  every  voter  should  possess  at  least  an 
elementary  knowledge  of  the  institutions  and  laws  under  which 
he  lives,  and  it  is  still  more  important  that  the  schools  should 
contribute  their  share  towai'ds  the  spread  of  such  knowledge 
among  the  pupils  attending  them. 

Although  the  study  of  Political  Science  is  thus  wide-spread, 
yet  it  has  never  been  very  detailed  and  thorough.  Extension 
and  intension  have  been  in  this  case  as  in  so  many  others  in 
inverse  ratio.  While  nearly  every  one  has  learned  something 
about  such  subjects  in  school,  no  one  has  learned  very  much. 
The  work  done  in  the  average  schools  and  colleges,  so  far  as  it 
is  anything  more  than  a  mere  presentation  of  the  facts  of  our 
political  system,  is  extremely  superficial. 

There  is  a  reason  for  this  fact  which  is  not  far  to  seek.  In  a 
new  country  where  social  and  economic  conditions  are  still  of  a 
somewhat  primitive  type  ;  where  there  is  an  abundance  of  fertile 
land  ;  where  the  population  is  still  mainly  agricultural  and  widely 
scattered,  there  is  not  likely  to  be  any  great  pressure  upon  the 
people  to  study  the  methods  and  principles  of  public  administra¬ 
tion.  A  loose,  unscientific,  wasteful  method  of  doing  public 
business  can  be  easily  borne  where  the  total  amount  of  wealth  to 
be  wasted  by  public  officers  is  very  small,  and  where  it  is  much 
more  lucrative  for  the  average  citizen  to  attend  to  his  business 
and  let  some  one  else  who  has  no  business  of  his  own  attend 
to  that  of  the  public.  Under  such  circumstances  few  can  see 
any  advantage  in  studying  problems  of  government  and  society 
which  seem  to  be  solving  themselves  as  society  progresses. 

Of  late  years,  however,  a  demand  has  arisen  for  better 
opportunities  for  the  study  of  Political  Science.  This  has  been 
met  to  a  partial  extent  by  our  higher  schools.  Nearly  all  the 
colleges  have  tried  to  add  something  to  their  curricula  in  this 
direction.  The  most  marked  advance,  however,  has  been  made 


as  might  be  fairly  expected  by  those  institutions  which  were 
able  to  adopt  elective  systems  of  study.  These  elective  systems 
are  of  two  types :  that  of  elective  studies  which  is  characteristic 
of  Harvard,  and  that  of  elective  courses  which  is  characteristic 
of  Cornell.  At  both  these  institutions  of  late  years  marked  ad¬ 
vance  has  been  made  in  the  opportunities  offered  in  these 
branches,  and  the  large  number  of  students  entering  the  classes 
in  these  subjects,  gives  evidence  of  the  increasing  interest  in 
their  pursuit. 

Three  institutions  have  gone  still  further  in  the  cultivation 
of  these  subjects.  The  University  of  Pennsylvania,  Columbia 
College  and  the  University  of  Michigan  have  established  special 
departments  of  Political  Science,  with  what  practically  amounts 
to  prescribed  courses  of  study.  The  increasing  number  of 
students  at  all  these  centers,  gives  added  evidence  of  public  in¬ 
terest  in  these  branches. 

The  reasons  for  this  great  advance  are  to  be  found  in  the 
changing  character  of  our  national  economy.  The  last  twenty- 
five  years  have  brought  a  great  and  growing  complication  into 
the  political  and  social  problems  of  our  national  existence.  We 
have  become  a  great  manufacturing  people  of  enormous  wealth 
and  of  growing  poverty,  with  an  exceedingly  mixed  population, 
of  which  a  large  per  cent,  dwell  in  cities.  Our  political  institu¬ 
tions  which  took  their  shape  when  the  country  contained  a  fairly 
homogeneous  population,  mostly  engaged  in  agriculture,  and 
with  no  great  extremes  of  wealth  or  poverty,  have  proved  them¬ 
selves  no  longer  adequate  to  satisfy  the  complicated  conditions 
of  our  present  life.  A  form  of  government  well  suited  to  a 
small  community  of  farmers  of  equal  wealth,  of  the  same  origin, 
of  similar  education,  possessing  th.e  same  traditions,  has  broken 
down  completely  when  applied  to  the  crowded  population  of  a 
great  city,  composed  of  the  very  wealthy  and  of  the  wretchedly 
poor,  of  Anglo-Saxon,  Latin,  Celt,  Chinese,  Hungarian,  White, 
Black  and  Yellow  ;  of  men  of  high  education  and  of  no  educa¬ 
tion  ;  of  Roman  Catholic,  of  Protestant,  of  Heathen.  The  no- 
torious  failure  of  our  political  system  when  applied  to  large 
cities,  has  excited  the  gravest  apprehensions  and  wide-spread 
attention,  which  could  not  but  result  in  a  wider  and  deeper  study 
of  our  social  problems.  The  growing  complexity  of  national  and 


local  administration  has  contributed  to  the  same  result.  The 
enormous  increase  in  the  burden  of  public  taxation  as  well  as  the 
rapidly  growing  amount  of  public  indebtedness,  have  also  set  men 
to  thinking  along  these  lines.  It  is  now  beginning  to  pay  better 
for  the  average  American  to  give  a 'little  attention  to  efficiency 
and  economy  in  public  administration,  than  to  devote  all  his 
time  to  his  own  business,  that  is  to  say,  he  can  make  more 
by  saving  than  earning — a  very  new  state  of  affairs  in  the 
United  States  of  America.  All  these  things  have  co-operated 
to  direct  the  attention  of  college  authorities  to  the  necessity  of 
favoring  those  studies  bearing  directly  on  such  questions,  and 
the  attention  of  the  public  to  the  necessity  of  furnishing  college 
authorities  with  the  funds  indispensable  to  this  work.  The 
result  has  been  the  great  extension  above  described  in  the 
facilities  offered  for  such  study. 

Great,  however,  as  this  increase  has  been,  it  has  not  kept 
pace  with  the  growing  needs  of  our  society.  We  stand  face  to 
face  to-day  with  a  vast  number  of  social  and  economic  problems 
which  are  almost  vital  in  their  nature  ;  which,  for  their  proper 
solution,  demand  the  most  detailed  and  patient  investigation  of 
facts  and  principles.  And  yet,  in  all  this  broad  country,  we 
have  no  center  where  such  questions  are  the  leading  objects  of 
investigation.  When  we  are  obliged  to  act,  as  at  times  act  we 
must,  the  lack  of  knowledge  is  painfully  apparent,  and  as  such 
knowledge  is  not  acquired  in  a  day  or  an  hour,  the  blindest  kind 
of  experimentation  takes  the  place  of  intelligent  and  thoughtful 
action. 

Take  for  example  the  subject  of  education.  The  last  census 
revealed  the  astonishing  fact  that  there  were  in  1880,  nearly 
5,000,000  of  persons  over  ten  years  of  age  who  were  unable  to 
read.  Now  comparatively  few  children  who  have  not  learned  to 
•  read  by  the  age  of  ten  years,  ever  acquire  the  facility  afterwards, 
so  that  we  may  say  in  general  that  thirteen  out  of  every  hun¬ 
dred  voters  in  the  United  States,  confessed  in  1880,  that  they 
could  not  read  the  ballots  which  they  were  entitled  to  cast. 
When  we  consider  further,  that  every  one  was  classed  as  able  to 
read  who  could  spell  b-a  ba ;  b-i  bi ;  b-o  bo,  we  can  get  some 
idea  what  vast  numbers  of  our  fellow  citizens  are  practically  shut 
off  from  any  intercourse  with  the  intelligence  of  the  modern 


7 


world.  It  would  not  be  too  much  to  say  that  twenty-five  per 
cent,  of  the  legal  voters  of  this  country  should  be  classed  as 
illiterate.  If  we  regard  moreover  the  fact  that  almost  none  of 
our  large  centres  of  population  provide  adequate  school-room 
and  fairly  good  teachers  even  for  the  children  who  wish  to  at¬ 
tend  school,  while  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  of  children 
in  our  great  industrial  centres  are  growing  up  without  ever  see¬ 
ing  the  inside  of  a  school-house,  we  must  surely  acknowledge 
that  we  are  front  to  front  with  one  of  the  greatest  problems  of 
the  time.  Now,  where  in  this  country  is  there  a  centre  at  which 
this  problem  is  being  investigated  ?  Where  are  there  men  who 
are  giving  any  great  amount  of  time  and  thought  to  ascertaining 
the  fact  or  to  considering  the  remedy  ?  Numerous  proposals 
have  been  made  in  Congress  to  grant  aid  from  the  national 
treasury  for  the  support  of  elementary  schools.  But  it  is  very 
evident  that  many  of  them  have  been  made  by  men  who  never 
gave  any  great  attention  to  investigation  of  the  problem. 

Take  another  example — the  railroad  question.  We  are 
rapidly  getting  to  a  point  where  action  of  some  kind  is  sure  to 
be  taken  by  the  National  Government.  And  yet  even  now, 
there  is  scarcely  an  important  question  of  theory  or  fact  in  rail¬ 
road  economy  which  may  fairly  be  regarded  as  settled.  Does  it 
cost  more  relatively  for  a  short  haul  than  a  long  one  For  a 
small  shipment  than  a  large  one  ?  Or  if  it  does;  do  our  railroads 
as  at  present  managed  recognize  this  difference  and  act  consist¬ 
ently  in  regard  to  it  ?  What  would  be  the  probable  effect  of  a 
general  law,  if  it  could  be  enforced,  which  should  absolutely  for¬ 
bid  discrimination  between  the  large  and  small  shipper,  and  be¬ 
tween  the  long  and  short  haul  ?  Would  the  fixing  of  tolls  by 
the  government  tend  to  discourage  the  investment  of  capital  in 
railroad  enterprises.^  Would  the  elimination  of  discrimination 
tend  to  favor  unduly  the  growth  of  small  industries  ?  Would  it 
allow  a  more  natural  development  of  our  national  industry  ? 
And  a  score  of  similar  questions  all  of  immense  importance  in 
this  connection,  and  yet  none  receiving  to-day  any  adequate  at¬ 
tention  on  the  part  of  anybody.  There  is  a  large  and  valuable 
continental  experience  in  this  subject  which  is  to  us  almost  a 
sealed  book.  There  is  no  place  in  this  country  where  a  man 
who  wishes  to  study  in  detail  the  relation  of  the  railway  to  the 


8 


State  can  find  such  adv^antages  as  will  repay  him  for  a  year’s 
residence.  The  railway  question  itself  is  only  one  of  a  large 
class  relating  to  corporations  and  their  functions,  all  of  which 
stand  very  much  in  need  of  close  and  careful  study. 

Take  still  another  question.  The  relations  of  labor  and 
capital — factory  laws,  strikes,  arbitration,  etc.  We  have  already 
arrived  at  a  point  where  the  industry  of  the  country  is  subject 
to  periodical  attacks  of  the  worst  kind,  from  the  positive  conflict 
of  .laborers  and  employers.  Mobs  and  riots  are  becoming  a 
matter  of  almost  daily  occurrence  in  our  industrial  centres. 
Here  a  laborer  is  killed,  and  there  an  employer  is  almost  beaten 
to  death.  Now  the  travel  of  a  large  city  is  almost  entirely  sus¬ 
pended  owing  to  a  strike  of  street  car  employes  ;  and  again  the 
traffic  of  a  whole  section  or  of  a  whole  country  is  suspended  by 
the  strike  of  locomotive  engineers  and  brakemen.  Are  not  these 
serious  enough  symptoms  to  satisfy  even  the  most  skeptical 
that  there  is  a  social  problem,  and  that  no  amount  of  crying 
“  away  with  it !  away  with  it !”  will  solve  it  ?  And  yet  where  is 
this  subject  receiving  the  attention  which  it  deserves  ?  He 
must  be  blind,  indeed,  to  the  lessons  of  history  and  to  the  facts 
of  our  daily  life,  who  believes  that  any  amount  of  proving  to  a 
laborer  by  Political  Economy  that  he  loses  by  a  strike,  is  going 
to  do  away  with  the  difficulty.  Optimistic  beyond  reason  is  he, 
who  having  proved  to  his  own  satisfaction,  that  the  laborer  is 
getting  an  increased  share  of  the  product,  supposes  that  the 
social  problem  will  solve  itself.  Suppose  the  laborer  uses  this 
increased  share  to  keep  up  the  fight,  will  that  tend  to  solve  the 
issue  satisfactorily  ?  Now,  at  what  educational  or  other  centre 
is  this  question  being  investigated  on  a  large  scale  by  such 
methods  as  promise  to  throw  light  upon  it ;  and  where  can  one 
go  who  desires  to  study  it  and  be  reasonably  sure  of  finding  the 
literature  on  the  subject  which  is  necessary  to  give  him  a 
broad  view  of  the  labor  movement  of  to-day,  which  has  long 
since  ceased  to  be  of  merely  local  and  even  of  national  import¬ 
ance. 

Thus  I  might  go  on  and  pick  out  one  problem  after  another, 
which  is  pressing  upon  us  for  solution,  and  for  the  study  of 
which  we  have  as  yet  but  few  facilities.  But  these  will  illustrate 
sufficiently  the  point  I  have  in  mind.  Now,  wherever  such 


9 


problems  exist,  (and  they  exist  in  every  old  society  and  in  some 
new  ones),  there  is  a  need  of  encouragement  to  the  stlidy  of 
such  problems.  Such  encouragement  in  some  form  or  other,  is 
given  in  every  European  country.  In  France,  for  example, 
prizes  are  offered  by  the  government  for  special  studies  on  these 
topics,  and  certain  positions  in  the  civil  service  are  open  only 
to  those  who  have  achieved  distinction  in  the  investigation  of 
these  problems.  In  Germany,  Austria  and  Italy  the  universities 
admirably  organized  are  the  centres  of  such  study  and  social 
distinction,  and  official  preferment  are  the  reward  of  those  who 
excel  in  it. 

In  view  of  these  facts  then,  we  may,  surely  claim  that  in  a 
society  like  ours ;  where  every  sound  minded  man  is  allowed  to 
participate  in  the  making  and  execution  of  the  laws,  not  only 
indirectly  by  being  permitted  to  vote  for  legislative  and  adminis¬ 
trative  officials,  but  also  very  often  directly  by  being  personally 
chosen  to  such  important  posts  himself,  where  public  opinion  is 
largely  moulded  by  the  press,  and  where  the  higher  schools  and 
colleges  attempt  to  instruct  in  the  duties  and  privileges  of  citi¬ 
zenship,  it  is  fitting  and  proper  there  should  be  some  centre 
where  the  subject-matter  of  society  and  its  government  should 
become  the  object  of  special  and  thorough  study  and  investi¬ 
gation. 

Such  a  centre  may  be  created  in  a  properly  organized  school 
of  Political  Science.  I  believe  that  the  time  has  come  in  the 
evolution  of  our  society,  when  there  is  a  demand  for  such  a 
school  upon  a  broader  and  more  generous  basis,  than  any  which 
have  as  yet  been  established.  Educational  progress  is  measured 
by  the  rise  and  development  of  new  varieties  of  schools.  There 
is  no  more  striking  characteristic  of  modern  as  distinguished 
from  ancient  times,  than  this  vast  increase  in  the  kinds  of 
schools.  Antiquity  knew  practically  of  only  one  or  two  where 
we  have  established  a  score  or  more.  Even  as  late  as  one  hun¬ 
dred  and  twenty-five  years  ago,  we  had  only  one  kind  of  school 
in  this  country — the  old-fashioned  college  with  its  Latin,  Greek, 
Mathematics  and  New  Testament  study.  No  Law  school  ;  no 
Medical  school ;  no  Dental  school ;  no  Veterinary  school ;  no 
Agricultural  school ;  no  school  of  Pharmacy  ;  no  Business  col¬ 
lege  ;  no  Normal  school ;  no  school  of  Mining  or  of  Engineer- 


10 


ing  ;  of  Design  ;  of  Industrial  Arts  ;  no  special  school  of  any 
kind  with  the  exception  of  Theological  Seminaries.  Every  step 
of  our  educational  progress  has  been  marked  by  the  rise  of  one 
of  these  kinds  of  schools.  Every  one  of  these  advances  was 
met  by  incredulity;  by  ridicule  ;  by  confident  declarations  on 
the  part  of  the  many,  that  there  was  no  demand  for  such  a 
thing ;  that  you  couldn’t  teach  Medicine  or  Law  or  Dentistry  or 
Agriculture.  They  were  all  arts,  and  had  to  be  acquired,  so  to 
speak,  by  hand. 

Perhaps  the  greatest  single  stride  was  made  not  so  very 
long  ago,  when  a  breach  was  finally  made  in  the  Chinese  wall,, 
which  had  been  built  up  about  the  old-fashioned  college.  The 
proposed  establishment  of  the  scientific  course  in  connection 
with  the  classical,  the  farther  proposition  to  introduce  the  mod¬ 
ern  studies  as  elective  with  the  antiquities,  were  met  by  a  most 
determined  opposition,  justifying  its  action  on  the  ground,  that 
the  introduction  of  these  new  studies,  would  be  the  death-knell 
of  the  old.  What  was  the  result  of  the  inevitable  victory  of  the 
progressive  party — a  diminution  in  the  numbers  attending  the 
old  courses  ?  By  no  means.  Simply  an  immensely  larger  num¬ 
ber  of  young  men  and  women  was  attracted  by  these  new 
courses,  who  would  never  have  been  reached  by  the  old. 

There  is  a  profoundly  philosophic  reason  underlying  this  pro¬ 
cess.  Opening  new  lines  of  study  which  reach  down  into  the 
mass  of  the  people,  is  like  sinking  new  shafts  in  a  mining  dis¬ 
trict.  It  opens  up  entirely  new  veins  of  unsuspected  wealth, 
which  might  have  remained  concealed  forever  if  this  particular 
shaft  had  not  been  sunk.  There  is  an  infinite  variety  of  tastes 
and  types  of  mind,  and  an  infinite  variety  of  science.  The 
infinitude  of  the  one  corresponds  to  the  infinitude  of  the  other, 
and  we  shall  achieve  the  highest  results  in  utilizing  all  the  va¬ 
riety  of  talent,  only  when  we  have  placed  within  its  reach  all  the 
variety  of  Art  and  Science.  Just  as  in  a  mining  district,  if 
you  were  to  sink  a  single  shaft  and  insist  that  all  minerals  mined 
should  be  gotten  at  through  that  alone,  you  would  inevitably 
limit  your  production ;  so  in  the  wider  field  of  national  intellect 
you  will  inevitably  bind  and  cramp  and  smother  intellectual  life 
and  energy,  if  you  insist  that  it  shall  all  come  to  light  through 
one  or  two  or  even  three  channels.  I  believe  that  the  explana- 


tion  of  the  wonderful  material  progress  of  modern  free  com¬ 
munities  lies,  to  a  large  extent,  in  the  simple  fact  that  we  have 
begun  at  last,  for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the  world,  to 
utilize  a  small  part  of  the  infinite  intellectual  power  of  the  race. 
A  boy  who  is  a  dunce  at  his  Latin  and  Greek,  may,  in  the  field 
of  electricity,  revolutionize  the  future  conditions  of  life  for  the 
race,  just  as  another  who  is  a  dunce  in  the  laboratory  may  guide 
a  great  nation  through  times  of  storm  and  stress  into  the  harbor 
of  peace  and  safety.  This  means  that  in  the  field  of  education, 
we  must  have  new  schools  and  new  courses  of  study  to  call  forth 
the  tastes  and  abilities  which  have  not  and  never  will  respond 
to  efforts  along  the  old  lines.  And  I  believe  that  the  time  has 
now  come,  when  a  school  of  Political  Science  can  fill  a  great 
want  in  calling  forth  a  type  of  mind  which  we  have  not  yet  util¬ 
ized,  and  which  we  shall  greatly  need  in  our  future  history. 

A  school  of  this  kind  to'  be  a  success,  must  do  one  or  both 
of  two  things.  It  must  offer  liberal  courses  of  study  which  shall 
be  of  more  or  less  interest  to  all  liberallv  educated  men,  or  else 
it  must  offer  a  practical  training,  which  is  directly  or  indirectly 
a  preparation  for  some  recognized  calling  ;  or  better  yet,  com¬ 
bine  the  two.  That  is  to  say  it  must  be  either  liberal  or  profes¬ 
sional  in  its  character. 

A  school  of  Political  and  Historical  Science,  properly  or¬ 
ganized,  may  be  both.  It  would  offer  courses  which  would  be 
of  interest  and  value  to  the  man  who  is  looking  forward  to  teach 
these  subjects  in  our  seminaries  and  colleges  ;  to  the  future 
journalist  who  is  to  discuss  these  questions  every  day  in  the 
columns  of  his  newspaper ;  to  the  future  lawyer  who  will  be 
called  to  legislate  on  these  subjects  in  our  assemblies  ;  to  the 
business  man  whose  interest  is  affected  at  every  point  by  gov¬ 
ernmental  policy  in  regard  to  these  subjects,  and  to  the  liberally 
minded  man  of  whatever  calling,  who  wishes  to  perform  his 
duties  as  a  citizen,  intelligently,  and  who  may  be  called  upon  at 
any  time  to  legislate  and  administer  upon  all  the  matters. 

There  is  a  common  body  of  knowledge  necessary  to  the 
highest  type  of  work  in  all  these  directions  which  properly  falls 
within  the  scope  of  such  a  school.  A  course  of  study  embrac¬ 
ing  : 


12 


(a)  Political  Economy. — The  science  which  treats  of  the 
relations  of  man  in  society  to  the  physical  world  about  him,  and 
of  the  conditions  which  determine  the  production  and  distribu¬ 
tion  of  material  wealth. 

{b)  Social  Science. — That  wider  branch  which  discusses  all 
the  social  forces  and  institutions  which  affect  the  material  and 
moral  well-being  of  society. 

{c)  Constitutional'  and  Administrative  Law. — So-called  civil 
government,  with  sets  forth  the  facts  and  principles  of  govern¬ 
ment  in  general,  and  of  that  form  in  particular  under  which  we 
live. 

{d)  History. — Political  and  constitutional  which  describes 
to  us  how  we  have  become  what  we  are,  and  thus  furnishes  us 
grounds  for  a  judgment  as  to  our  future  course  such  a  curri¬ 
culum  must  lie  at  the  basis  of  the  highest  form  of  work  in 
teaching  the  duties  of  citizenship,  either  in  our  elementary  or 
higher  schools,  or  in  practicing  the  professions  of  law  and 
journalism,  or  in  taking  part  as  a  legislator  in  the  making  of  our 
laws  or  even  in  the  preparation  of  every  citizen  who  would  take 
a  prominent  part  in  politics  in  the  best  sense  of  the  term. 

A  school  of  Historical  and  Political  Science  which  is  to  do 
the  best  possible  work  for  the  community,  must  be  built  up  on 
the  solid  foundation  of  this  common  body  of  knowledge.  It 
should  than  add  to  this  nucleus  special  courses  looking  directly 
toward  the  particular  callings  which  its  students  intend  to  fol¬ 
low. 

Now,  let  us  see  what  a  school  of  this  kind  could  do  for  the 
community.  To  those  boys  who  expect  to  take  up  the  study  of 
the  law,  it  could  offer  a  valuable  preparation  or  supplement  to 
that  work.  Besides  the  courses  mentioned  above,  it  should  pro¬ 
vide  for  this  class  additional  courses  in  Roman  Law,  in  the 
general  principles  of  Jurisprudence,  and  in  International  Law; 
also  more  detailed  courses  in  public  law — both  constitutional 
and  administrative,  i.  ^.,  in  those  branches  which  our  Law 
Schools,  as  at  present  organized,  almost  utterly  neglect, 
and  yet  which  are  very  necessary  if  the  student  would 
get  a  real  insight  Jnto  the  broad  principles  underlying 
all  systems  of  Jurisprudence.  The  place  for  the  thorough 
study  of  this  class  of  subjects  is  not  in  a  Law  School — 


13 


►  ' 


A4 


at  least  in  any  Law  School  now  in  existence.  The  legal 
point  of  view  and  the  politico-scientific  point  of  view,  are  as 
widely  different  as  the  East  is  from  the  West,  even  where  the 
subject  matter  is  the  same.  The  Law  School,  the  world  over,  is 
engaged  in  preparing  its  students  for  a  state  examination,  which 
is  made  the  condition  of  entering  a  legal  career.  This  examina¬ 
tion,  at  present  conducted,  is  mainly  directed  toward  ascertain¬ 
ing  whether  the  applicant  possesses  such  a  knowledge  of  private 
law — statute,  common  or  judicial  law  as  will  enable  him  to 
take  the  conduct  of  cases  before  the  courts.  The  law  student 
as  a  law  student  wishes  to  know  the  law  as  it  is  for  the  purpose 
of  utilizing  his  immediate  knowledge  in  his  immediate  practice. 
He  does  not  care  particularly  whether  the  law  is  good  or  bad ; 
whether  it  is  founded  on  a  just  principle  or  not.  He  desires  to 
know  simply  what  the  law  is  in  order  to  utilize  it  for  his  pur¬ 
poses,  whether  good  or  bad  or  indifferent.  The  student  of  po¬ 
litical  science  wishes  to  know  why  the  law  is  so,  and  whether  it 
can  not  be  made  better.  He  tries  to  ascertain  the  economic  or 
historic  or  philosophical  basis  of  a  law,  its  relation  to  other  laws 
and  to  other  systems,  etc.  Some  one  has  well  described  this 
difference  by  saying  that  the  law  student  busies  himself  de  legibiis 
quae  nunc  sunt,  i.  e.  existing  laws,  while  the  student  of  Political 
Science  busies  himself  de  legibus  ferejidis  with  the  laws  as  they 
should  be.  This  is  such  a  fundamental  difference  that  it  will 
prevent  any  healthy  combination  of  the  two  objects  within  one 
school,  so  that  each  shall  receive  its  due  weight.  The  standing 
of  the  legal  profession  in  this  country  is  not  relatively  as  high 
as  it  once  was.  This  is  to  be  attributed,  I  believe,  not  only  to 
the  fact  that  other  callings  have  risen  in  general  intelligence, 
but  also  to  the  fact  that  the  legal  profession  has  not  been  rising, 
but  has  remained  practically  stationary.  It  does  not  seem 
probable  that  it  will  ever  be  practicable  in  this  country  to  insist 
on  a  long  preparatory  training  along  the  old  liberal  lines  of  study 
for  admission  to  this  profession.  But  it  might  be  possible  to 
demand  and  obtain  an  extensive  course  of  preparation  along  the 
lines  indicated  above,  as  a  condition  of  admission,  if  the  efforts 
were  made  in  the  right  way.  Such  a  course  would,  in  many  re¬ 
spects,  be  of  more  value  than  the  former. 

For  those  boys  who  are  preparing  for  journalism  in  addition 


14 


to  the  minimum  courses  prescribed  above,  there  should  be 
courses  in  Physical  and  Political  Geography,  in  the  facts  relating 
to  the  governments  and  policies  of  other  nations,  international 
law  and  treaties,  in  a  word  along  those  lines  which  are  of  im¬ 
mediate  and  prime  importance  to  a  man  who  is  expected  to 
write  intelligently  upon  all  the  questions  of  contemporary  poli¬ 
tics  at  home  and  abroad.  For  such  boys,  the  school  might  be 
made  a  professional  school  in  a  still  more  narrow  sense  by  add¬ 
ing  practical  training  in  English  composition,  followed  up  by 
actual  drill  as  reporters  in  connection  with  a  newspaper,  and 
later  the  art  of  editorial  writing,  with  a  view  to  developing  and 
perfecting  an  ability  to  take  in  at  a  glance  the  salient  points  of 
an  event  or  industry,  and  presenting  them  in  a  terse  and  intelli¬ 
gible  way.  Such  a  course  could  not  fail  to  have  a  most  healthy 
influence  on  the  journalism  of  the  country. 

For  those  wishing  to  prepare  for  business,  in  addition  to  the 
minimum  courses  presented  above,  facilities  should  be  offered 
for  the  study  of  the  theory  and  practice  of  accounting,  in  the 
management  of  property,  in  the  principles  and  practice  of  com¬ 
mercial  law,  in  the  history,  organization  and  administration  of 
the  great  departments  of  business,  such  as  banking,  railroading, 
merchandising,  manufacturing  and  other  similar  branches.  It 
has  been  one  of  the  great  problems  of  higher  education  to  secure 
its  diffusion  among  the  business  men  of  a  community.  It  used 
to  be  a  very  wide-spread  idea,  that  if  a  boy  intended  to  go  into 
business,  there  was  no  necessity  of  his  going  to  college.  As  a 
consequence,  only  those  boys  went  to  college  who  expected  to 
go  into  the  so-called  learned  professions,  and  the  complaint,  in¬ 
deed,  is  very  general  nowadays  that  it  destroys  a  boy’s  usefulness 
for  business  even  if  he  be  sent  through  a  high  school.  It  can 
not  be  denied  that  the  tendency  of  our  so-called  higher  education 
is  what  might  be  called  strictly  professional.  The  fact  that 
most  college  graduates  go  into  the  professions  is,  of  course,  not 
to  be  wondered  at  in  the  light  of  the  fact  mentioned  above,  that 
only  those  boys  are  sent  who  are  expected  from  the  very  first  to 
enter  the  professions  and  the  so-called  liberal  courses  of  those  old 
institutions,  was  originally  established  as  a  special  preparation 
for  the  professions.  Of  late  years  with  the  addition  of  the  new 
l')ranches,  a  change  in  this  respect  has  begun  to  take  place.  But 


15 


\ve  need  not  hope  to  get  higher  education  generally  diffused  in 
the  business  community  until  we  evolve  a  higher  education, 
which  stands  in  somewhat  closer  relation  to  their  actual  work 
than  the  Latin,  Greek  and  Mathematics  of  an  old-fashioned  col¬ 
lege  course.  It  is  possible  to  evolve  such  an  education  along 
the  lines  described  above.  Business  life  in  any  of  its  depart¬ 
ments  touches  at  numerous  points  the  great  sphere  of  social  and 
political  science — must  solve,  indeed,  in  a  practical  way  and  for 
a  given  time  and  place,  some  of  the  most  vexed  questions  of 
theory.  The  tracing  out  of  the  relations  of  one  branch  of  busi¬ 
ness  to  others,  and  to  the  type  of  society  in  which  it  flourishes, 
and  the  study  of  the  relations  of  employer  and  employe  to  each 
other,  and  to  the  society  of  which  they  form  a  part,  may  consti¬ 
tute  a  pursuit  no  less  liberalizing  and  disciplinary  in  its  tenden¬ 
cies  than  the  study  of  literature  and  art,  and  a  pursuit  it  must 
be  added  which,  in  combination  with  a  practical  course,  is  much 
more  likely  to  attract  boys  of  a  business  turn  of  mind  than  the 
literary  or  scientific  courses  of  our  present  schools. 

There  is  still  another  and  a  very  large  class  in  the  com¬ 
munity  which  would  find  in  such  a  school,  a  professional  train¬ 
ing  for  their  future  work,  and  they  are  the  teachers  of  historical 
and  political  science  in  our  schools  and  colleges.  There  are 
probably  twenty-five  hundred  institutions  in  this  country  above 
the  grade  of  an  elementary  school  where  history  and  political 
science  in  its  elements  at  least,  are  taught.  In  a  large  number 
of  these,  special  teachers  for  these  two  subjects  above  are  em¬ 
ployed.  Until  a  very  recent  date,  these  teachers  had  almost  no 
opportunity  to  prepare  themselves  for  their  special  work.  And 
oven  now  the  opportunities  as  I  have  shown  above,  are  still  very 
limited.  These  teachers  would  get  the  professional  preparation 
which  they  need  in  such  a  school.  Additional  courses  in  meth¬ 
ods  of  historical  and  economic  investigation,  in  the  history  and 
educational  aspects  of  these  sciences  should  be  added  for  the 
benefit  of  this  last  class.  It  is  from  those  who  expect  to  devote 
their  lives  to  the  study  and  teaching  of  these  subjects  in  our 
colleges  and  universities  and  special  schools,  that  we  must 
largely  look  for  an  advance  in  the  methods  and  theories  of  these 
sciences,  and  it  is  mainly  to  the  public  school  teacher  that  we 
must  look  for  a  general  diffusion  of  this  knowledge  in  the  com- 


i6 


munity  at  large.  Both  classes  must,  themselves,  however,  re¬ 
ceive  an  adequate  training  in  the  methods  and  principles  of  im¬ 
parting  this  knowledge  if  they  are  to  do  the  best  work  along 
these  lines.  There  is  only  one  institution  so  far  as  I  know  in 
this  country,  where  the  soundness  of  this  view  is  practically 
recognized,  and  that  is  the  University  of  Michigan.  In  their 
department  of  Political  Science,  a  course  of  lectures  is  offered 
in  the  History  of  Education. 

There  is  another  class  which  may  be  mentioned  here.  In 
the  course  of  educational  progress  in  this  country,  we  have 
evolved  a  peculiar  officer — unknown,  I  believe,  in  any  other  sys¬ 
tem — known  as  City  Superintendent  of  Schools.  In  our  edu¬ 
cational  condition,  he  is  a  necessity,  and  his  numbers  are  rapidly 
increasing.  Such  an  officer  should  be  rarely  well  equipped  in 
all  educational  knowledge.  It  is  only  within  four  or  five  years 
that  any  provision  has  been  made  for  his  special  education,  and 
those  provisions  are  still  very  meager.  Such  a  man  should  have 
not  only  a  special  knowledge  of  education  in  its  professional  as¬ 
pects,  relating  to  methods  of  teaching,  school  organization,  etc.^ 
but  he  should  have  a  broad  view  of  the  relation  of  education  to 
all  the  departments  of  national  life  and  of  the  connection  of  edu¬ 
cational  institutions  with  the  other  institutions  of  a  people. 
Such  a  view  can  be  best  attained  by  a  comprehensive  study  of 
society,  its  basis,  its  growth,  its  institutions.  A  school  of  his¬ 
torical  and  political  science,  by  adding  to  its  general  courses 
special  courses  in  educational  organization,  could  offer  a  most 
valuable  professional  preparation  to  this  important  rapidly  grow¬ 
ing  class  of  public  officers. 

I  have  thus  far  spoken  of  classes  which  exist  in  our  society, 
and  which  need  the  advantage  of  such  a  school.  Let  us  turn  to 
another  class — which  is  not  quite  here,  but  is  certainly  on  the  road 
• — the  professionally  educated  public  servant.  We  have  begun  to 
put  our  civil  service  on  a  sound  basis.  It  will  never  be  fully  there 
until  it  is  generally  recognized  that  a  man,  who  has  had  a  special 
training  in  the  study  of  civil  society  and  its  government,  is,  as  a 
rule,  better  fitted  for  an  important  administrative  position  than 
one  who  has  not  had  that  training.  A  school  of  Historical  and 
Political  Science  can  become  a  professional  school  for  certain 
branches  of  the  public  service. 


1/ 


It  has  not  been  very  long  since  the  President  of  the  United 
States  looked  the  country  over  for  a  man  fitted  to  take  charge 
of  a  national  bureau  of  statistics,  and  after  long  months  of 
search,  was  finally  compelled  to  take  a  man  whose  time  was 
already  fully  occupied  with  the  care  of  a  state  bureau.  Now 
such  a  school  as  I  have  described,  by  adding  special  courses  in 
the  principles  and  methods  of  statistics,  and  in  the  organization 
and  working  of  statistical  bureaus,  could  turn  out  a  set  of  stu¬ 
dents  who  would  be  amply  able  to  fill  the  highest  demands 
which  we  could  fairly  make  in  this  respect. 

It  could  prepare  men  for  other  important  administrative 
positions  by  adding  courses  in  the  principles,  and  methods  of 
public  accounting,  and  in  the  organization  and  management  of 
government  departments — national,  state  and  local.  There  is 
certainly  need  of  such  instruction  in  a  country  where  it  is  almost 
impossible  to  make  bead  or  tail  of  the  average  financial  reports 
of  public  bodies,  and  where  even  the  accounts  of  the  National 
Government  itself  can  scarcely  be  understood  by  the  President 
or  his  'Cabinet  officers. 

Two  objections  may  be  raised  to  this  feature  of  the  plan.  One 
may  say,  what  is  the  advantage  of  having  educated  men  of  this 
type  for  our  ordinary  administrative  positions  ?  They  have  to 
learn  the  business  practically,  anyhow,  before  they  can  perform 
the  duties  of  the  position,  and  they  are  generally  of  such  a  character 
that  every  man  of  ordinary  intelligence  and  fair  education,  can 
perform  the  duties  satisfactorily.  I  would  answer,  that  it  makes 
an  infinite  difference  to  a  country,  as  a  whole,  whether  its  ad¬ 
ministration  is  in  the  hands  of  mere  routinists,  such  as  unedu¬ 
cated  men  nearly  always  are,  or  whether  it  is  in  the  hands  of 
educated  and  thoughtful  agents.  The  latter,  it  is  true,  may 
sometimes,  though  this  is  not  generally  so,  not  perform  the  routine 
duties  of  the  position  any  better  than  the  former,  but  the  attitude 
of  the  two  toward  their  work,  and  the  result  of  this  attitude  is 
enormously  different.  The  routinist  is  satisfied  with  things  as 
they  are,  and  as  owing  to  his  lack  of  intelligence,  he  finds  it 
difficult  to  adapt  himself  to  other  ways  of  doing  things,  he  is  by 
nature,  bitterly  opposed  to  every  reform,  which  must  always  be 
forced  upon  him  from  the  outside.  His  work  to  him  is  drudgery. 


i8 


The  collection  of  a  particular  kind  of  tax  in  a  particular  way,  is 
to  him  simply  the  levying  of  a  tax. 


A  yellow  primrose  by  the  brink 
A  yellow  primrose  is  to  him 
And  nothing  more. 

The  educated  man,  on  the  contrary,  sees  even  in  these  dry 
details  of  routine  work  the  far-reaching  effects,  the  economic  and 
social  advantages  and  disadvantages  connected  with  this  or  that 
particular  mode  of  doing  things.  He  is  always  on  the  lookout 
for  new  ways  of  improving  his  service.  And  it  is,  at  this  point, 
that  his  training  in  historical  or  political  science  becomes  of 
immense — of  untold  advantage  to  him  and  to  the  country.  An 
educated  civil  service  means  an  army  of  professional  students  of 
the  methods  and  principles  of  government.  And  this  means  an 
enormous  contribution  to  the  problems  of  civil  society,  a  contri¬ 
bution  which  we  shall  not  be  long  able  to  dispense  with.  The 
advantage  of  such  a  service  we  do  not  fully  appreciate,  because 
we  do  not  fully  appreciate  the  loss  we  incur  from  our  present 
form.  A  man  in  walking  through  a  mining  region,  may  pass  a 
nugget  of  gold,  which  would  have  made  him  rich  for  life  if  he 
had  only  glanced  in  its  direction.  He  passes  on  and  in  utter 
unconsciousness  of  what  an  opportunity  has  escaped  him,  wan¬ 
ders  through  life  a  tramp  and  a  beggar.  So  a  community,  a 
state,  a  nation  lives  on  for  generations  with  an  ignorant  people 
and  an  ignorant  public  service,  utterly  unaware  of  what  higher 
levels  are  open  to  it,  until  by  accident,  power  drifts  into  the 
hands  of  intelligence  when  a  revelation  of  the  possibilities  first 
comes  to  their  minds. 

Such  a  school  would  become  a  centre  where  the  great  prob¬ 
lems  of  government  in  every  department  would  receive  careful 
and  continuous  study,  which  could  not  but  result  in  many  valua¬ 
ble  contributions  of  a  theoretical  and  practical  nature  toward 
their  solution.  It  would  send  forth  a  set  of  men  well  acquainted 
with  both  the  practical  and  theoretical  aspects  of  such  questions 
as  the  care  of  the  poor  and  of  the  unfortunate  classes,  education, 
etc.,  etc.,  from  whose  numbers  those  could  be  selected  who 
might  be  best  fit  to  assist  in  the  practical  work  of  managing 
our  public  institutions  or  serving  as  members  of  supervising 


19 


boards.  Unfit  men  are  now  too  often  appointed  because  the 
number  of  really  well  prepared  candidates  for  such  positions  is 
very  small,  and  when  all  are  equally  unprepared,  there  seems  to 
be  no  reasons  why  political  considerations  shall  not  decide  the 
question. 

But  some  one  may  say,  suppose  we  grant  the  truth  of  these 
considerations,  what  students  could  you  attract  to  prepare  them¬ 
selves  for  the  public  service  ?  What  inducements  under  our 
present  system  of  civil  service,  can  you  offer  to  young  men  to 
prepare  for  this  career  ?  I  am  sorry  to  say,  that  they  are  not  as 
yet,  very  great  or  very  numerous.  But  they  are  still  very  sub¬ 
stantial,  and  I  believe  would  attract  a  number  of  young  men. 

In  this  case,  as  in  many  others,  supply  not  only  follows  demand, 
but  supply  creates  demand.  Given  a  number  of  specially  educa¬ 
ted  young  men,  let  them  come  in  competition  with  a  number  of 
half-educated  young  men,  and  I  believe,  that  even  with  our  civil 
service  as  it  is,  for  very  many  positions,  at  least,  the  latter  would 
have  no  chance  at  all,  and  the  number  of  positions  coming  ^ 
within  this  category,  will  increase  with  every  advance  in  the 
standing  of  our  civil  service. 

Such  a  school  should  turn  out  many  men  able  and  skillful 
in  investigating  economic  and  social  facts :  men  who  would  be 
in  great  demand  for  commissions  of  various  kinds,  such  as  our 
legislatures  and  Congress  are  constantly  creating  for  the  study 
of  certain  topics  like  taxation,  city  government,  railroads,  Indian 
Question  and  the  like  ;  commissions  whose  reports  seldom  have 
much  value,  because  their  members  seldom  have  much  fitness 
for  the  work. 

Let  us  now,  in  the  light  of  the  preceding  considerations, 
again  briefly  describe  the  kind  of  school  we  have  in  mind.  It 
will  be  a  school  with  a  certain  minimum  prescribed  course  in 
Political  Economy,  Social  Science,  Civil  Government  and  His¬ 
tory  ;  and  in  addition,  a  number  of  special  elective  courses,  look¬ 
ing  toward  the  particular  calling  which  the  student  expects  to 
take  up.  Each  student  for  graduation  will  be  expected  to  take  the 
minimum  course,  and  one  of  the  elective  courses  corresponding  to 
his  future  work.  The  course  would  be  three  years  in  length  ;  the 
first  year  or  more  being  given  to  the  prescribed,  and  the  last  two 
years  or  less  to  the  elective  courses.  The  degree  to  be  given,. 


20 


should  be  either  Bachelor  or  Doctor  of  Political  Science,  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  previous  preparation  and  courses  taken  in  the  school. 

Now,  what  would  be  the  relation  of  such  a  school  toward 
our  existing  institutions  ?  It  has  already  been  indicated  in  the 
word  so  frequently  used  above — professional.  It  would  stand 
on  the  same  footing  as  the  Medical  or  Dental  or  Law  schools, 
except  that  it  should  insist  on  a  higher  grade  of 'acquirement  for 
admission,  than  these  schools.  In  the  case  of  candidates  for  its 
<iegree,  it  might  fairly  enough  insist  upon  such  a  degree  of  men¬ 
tal  maturity  and  knowledge,  as  the  average  Junior  in  our  better 
eolleges  possesses.  The  Doctor’s  degree  might  be  open  only  to 
those  who  had  graduated  at  college  or  some  similar  institution 
before  coming.  But.  the  courses  should  certainly  be  open  to 
those  who  possess  mental  maturity  enough  to  profit  by  them, 
whether  they  have  been  in  college  or  not.  It  should  cleave 
a  way  for  itself,  down  into  the  heart  of  the  masses,  and  outline 
special  courses  of  preparation  for  itself,  such  as  might  attract 
the  type  of  mind  peculiarly  fitted  for  such  study. 

Two  objections  will  be  made  to  this  plan  :  One  will  come 
from  the  practical  man,  and  one  from  the  college  president. 
The  practical  man,  upon  whose  munificence  in  the  present  state 
of  the  public  mind  we  shall  have  to  rely  for  funds  to  establish 
this  school,  will  say  :  What  is  the  necessity  for  such  an  institu¬ 
tion  ?  What  moral  obligation  rests  upon  me,  as  one  who  desires 
to  use  a  part  of  his  wealth,  to  furnish  public  ends  to  provide  a 
professional  education  for  the  journalist  any  more  than  for  the 
butcher  or  baker  ?  I  would  answer,  only  the  consideration  of 
more  imperative  necessity  in  the  case  of  the  former.  The  latter 
can  wait  for  his  turn.  It  is  to  be  sincerely  hoped  that,  in  course 
of  time,  provision  will  be  made  for  the  education  of  the  butcher 
and  baker  also.  In  the  meantime,  the  success  of  our  present 
social  order,  rests  upon  correct  views  of  government  and  its 
business  in  the  minds  of  the  people.  As  our  society  is  at  pres¬ 
ent  constituted,  the  teacher,  the  lawyer  and  the  journalist  are 
peculiarly  powerful  in  influencing  and  controlling  public  opinion. 
They  occupy,  to  a  certain  extent,  the  position  of  moulders  and 
leaders  in  affairs  of  public  interest.  It  is  doubly  necessary, 
therefore,  that  they  should  be  well  trained  in  the  investigation 
of  all  those  vital  problems.  As  matters  now  stand,  however, 


21 


they  have  no  opportunity  and  but  little  inducement  to  prepare 
themselves  properly  for  this  work,  and  when  their  advice  is 
sought  on  practical  matters,  it  is  generally  of  a  hap-hazard  and 
crude  character.  Let  the  opportunity  of  such  education  once 
be  given,  and  let  its  value  be  clearly  seen,  as  it  undoubtedly  will 
be,  and  then  it  may  be  trusted  to  take  care  of  itself.  In  the 
meantime,  however,  in  this  field,  as  in  every  other  department 
of  reform  and  progress,  good  things  do  not  come  of  themselves. 
Good  wheat  does  not  grow  of  itself  like  the  tares  of  the  field. 
It  must  be  planted  and  watered  and  tilled.  Social  progress 
along  the  higher  lines,  is  achieved  by  the  efforts  of  the  better 
class  in  the  community  ;  by  the  far-sighted  and  liberal  and  self- 
sacrificing.  And  it  is  to  them  that  every  appeal  for  better 
things  must  be  made. 

The  second  objection  comes  from  a  great  friend  of  educa¬ 
tional  advance — the  progressive  college  president.  He  asks 
why  organize  a  special  school  ^  You  are  going  to  divorce  sub¬ 
jects  which  should  be  kept  together.  Political  Science  belongs 
with  Philosophy,  and  Art,  and  Literature  and  pure  Science. 
Why  not  develop  all  these  subjects  within  the  limits  of  an  ex¬ 
panded  Faculty  of  Arts  ?  My  answer  is,  that  I  should  be  very 
glad,  indeed,  to  see  any  Faculty  of  Arts  in  this  country  expand 
wide  enough  to  take  in  this  scheme.  But  I  see  no  signs  of  any 
leaning  in  that  direction,  and  I  am  free  to  confess,  that  I  have 
but  little  hope  that  any  will  develop  itself  in  the  future.  Edu¬ 
cational  progress  is  accompanied,  as  noted  before,  by  an  ever 
increasing  differentiation  in  the  kinds  of  schools.  This  fact  is 
obscured,  to  a  large  extent,  by  the  external  form  of  certain  higher 
institutions.  The  experience  of  German  universities  is  often 
quoted  as  demonstrating  in  a  striking  way,  the  desirability  of 
keeping  all  branches  of  pure  science  together  within  one  close 
organization  or  faculty.  It  is  well  known  that  the  typical  Ger¬ 
man  university  consists  of  four  faculties — Law,  Medicine,  The¬ 
ology  and  Philosophy.  The  latter  includes  all  branches,  not 
clearly  falling  within  the  limits  of  the  other  three.  It  is  a  wide¬ 
spread  and,  in  my  opinion,  very  erroneous  idea,  that  the  Philo¬ 
sophical  Faculty  is  a  faculty  of  liberal  arts  ;  that  its  students 
are  engaged  in  the  pursuit  of  pure  science  for  its  own  sake,  and 
that  every  student  has  the  opportunity  to  elect  what  branches 


he  pleases,  and  divide  his  time  as  he  pleases.  The  real  fact  is,, 
that  the  Philosophical  Faculty  consists  of  a  large  number  of 
special  courses  which  are  practically  prescribed  to  the  student,, 
though  in  form,  they  are  elective.  Few  German  students  enter 
the  Philosophical  Faculty  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  a  liberal 
education.  They  go  to  get  a  special  preparation  for  a  given  e.x- 
amination,  which  they  will  be  tested  in  certain  set  subjects.'  The 
university,  it  is  said,  does  not  prescribe  these  courses.  That  is 
done  by  the  State,  but  the  result  to  the  student  is  the  same. 

Suppose  the  State  of  Pennsylvania  were  to  pass  a  law,  re¬ 
quiring  that  all  persons  who  desire  admission  to  any  branch  of 
its  civil  service,  should  spend  three  years  at  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania,  should  then  prescribe  a  state  e.xamination  in  such 
a  number  of  subjects  represented  in  the  curriculum  of  that  in¬ 
stitution,  as  would  keep  the  student  busy  for  three  years,  and 
should  appoint  the  university  professors  who  instructed  in  those 
subjects,  to  be  examiners  in  the  state  examination.  How  much 
liberty  of  choice  would  be  left  to  the  student  ?  He  would  come 
to  Philadelphia  with  the  expectation  of  remaining  three  years,, 
and  then  entering  the  civil  service.  He  is  theoretically  entitled 
to  study  what  he  pleases,  but  practically  he  is  limited  to  the 
subjects  in  which  he  must  be  examined.  Now,  nearly  every 
German  student  enrolled  in  a  Philosophical  Faculty,  is  looking 
forward  to  entering  the  civil  service  of  his  country  in  one  branch 
or  another,  and  must  consequently  fit  himself  in  the  subjects 
required  in  the  corresponding  examination.  In  this  is  to  be 
found  the  explanation  of  the  universal  complaint  in  Germany,, 
that  the  students  are  giving  themselves  up  to  Brodstudium,  and 
of  the  further  fact  that  every  professor  is  trying  to  get  his 
particular  subject  required  in  some  state  examination.  The 
testimony  of  many  eminent  German  professors,  is  to  the  effect 
that  the  Philosophical  Faculty  is  but  little  more  than  a  collection 
of  prescribed  courses,  and  some  of  them  think  that  the  efficiency 
of  these  courses  is  greatly  hindered  by  the  fact,  that  they  are  all 
organized  within  one  faculty,  instead  of  being  divided  as  they 
should  be  into  several,  as,  indeed,  is  done  in  some  of  the  institu¬ 
tions.  I  have  mentioned  this  point,  because  I  believe  that  the 
experience  of  the  German  university,  rightly  understood,  favors- 
the  view  underlying  this  paper,  as  to  the  best  means  of  securing 


23 


the  highest  development  of  any  given  department  or  knowledge, 
though  it  is  often  quoted  in  favor  of  a  very  different  view. 

I  would  not  wish  to  be  understood  as  favoring  any  diminu¬ 
tion  in  the  amount  of  attention  devoted  to  these  subjects  in  our 
colleges.  It  should,  and  must  be,  very  largely  increased.  But 
I  desire  to  see  a  fuller  opportunity  offered  for  their  study,  than 
any  American  college  is  now  offering  or  is  likely  to  offer  within 
the  narrow  limits  of  a  Faculty  of  Arts. 

There  is  no  objection  to  the  organization  of  such  a  school 
in  connection  with  a  college  or  university.  There  are,  indeed, 
very  many  cogent  reasons  why  it  should  be  so  organized.  The 
other  departments  have  many  resources  which  would  be  of  great 
aid  to  such  an  institution.  It  would  prevent  duplication  of 
libraries  and  of  certain  courses,  which  might  be  open  to  students 
of  other  departments.  And  above  all,  the  students  themselves 
would  derive  great  assistance  from  the  scholarly  atmosphere 
which  should  surround  a  great  centre  of  learning.  But  the 
school  should  be  organized  on  its  own  basis,  as  independent  of 
the  other  departments,  as  the  Medical  or  Law  schools. 

Now,  my  friends,  I  have  not  sketched  this  outline  to  you, 
merely  to  tickle  your  imagination  with  a  creature  of  fancy.  I 
believe  that  there  is  a  great  want  in  our  educational  field  which 
is,  as  yet,  unfilled.  I  think  such  an  institution  would  fill  it,  and 
I  desire  your  active  co-operation  in  securing  funds  for  such  an 
institution.  It  should  be  right  here  in  our  midst  ;  in  this  great 
centre  of  industry  where  the  serious  problems  of  modern  society 
are  revealing  themselves  in  all  their  sharpness  and  terribleness  ; 
and  where,  therefore,  the  data  for  an  inductive  study  of  society 
are  close  at  hand. 

Philadelphia  needs  such  a  school,  and  it  would  patronize  it 
liberally.  The  State,  nay  the  Nation,  needs  such  an  institution, 
and  if  it  were  worthy  they  could  fill  its  halls  to  overflowing  with 
the  very  cream  of  the  young  talent  of  the  country.  Phfteen 
years  ago  there  was  no  opportunity  in  Philadelphia  to  secure  a 
higher  technical  education,  and  some  people  doubted  whether 
there  were  young  men  enough  in  the  community  to  make  it 
worth  while  to  establish  a  school  for  this  purpose.  In  1872  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania  opened  such  a  school.  The  attend¬ 
ance  regularly  increased,  until  now  it  has  reached  nearly  two 


24 


hundred  and  fifty.  Such  a  school  as  I  have  outlined  above, 
would  reach  a  larger  number  than  even  a  technical  school  of  the 
kind  just  described. 

Such  an  institution  might  be  started  on  a  fairly  liberal  basis 
with  an  income  aside  from  tuition  of  $25,000  per  year,  provided 
a  suitable  building  were  provided,  and  every  cent  of  income  of 
$50,000  could  be  wisely  used  from  the  very  start. 

The  University  of  Pennsylvania,  owing  to  the  liberality  of 
Mr.  Joseph  Wharton,  has  been  able  to  lay  the  foundation  for 
such  a  school  as  I  have  above  described.  The  income  from  in¬ 
vested  funds  amounts,  so  far,  to  about  $7,000  per  year,  and  it 
has  been  so  judiciously  used,  that  the  institution  is  now  able  to 
apply  wisely  every  cent  of  money  given  for  this  purpose,  whether 
it  be  five  dollars  or  a  million. 

Who,  of  Philadelphia’s  public-spirited  citizens,  will  add  to 
this  foundation,  or  will  lay  a  broader  and  deeper  one  for  such  a 
superstructure  ? 

Appended  to  this  paper,  is  a  proposed  curriculum,  embrac¬ 
ing  four  of  the  special  courses  outlined  above.  This  is  not  in¬ 
tended  to  indicate  a  desirable  limit  in  any  course,  or  even  the 
most  desirable  form,  but  simply  to  suggest  the  outline  of  a 
practicable  system,  which  might  be  varied  to  almost  any  extent, 
as  circumstances  might  seem  to  make  desirable.  New  special 
courses  could  be  added  ad  libituin  with  every  adequate  increase 
of  funds. 

Provision  should,  of  course,  be  made  for  the  endowment  of 
research  in  these  departments  by  establishing  resident  and 
traveling  fellowships,  with  sufficient  income  to  enable  the 
holders  to  devote  their  whole  time  to  study  and  investigation 
along  these  lines.  P'unds  should  also  be  available  for  defraying 
the  expenses  of  special  investigations  and  for  the  publication  of 
valuable  monographs,  etc.,  which  should  incorporate  the  results 
of  work  done  in  connection  with  the  institution. 


OUTLINE  OF  A  PROPOSED  COURSE. 


Required  of  all. 


1.  Political  Economy,  3  hrs. 

2.  Civil  Govt.,  2  “ 

1st  Year/ 3-  Logic,  2  “ 

4.  English,  3  “ 

5.  Modern  Hist.,  5 


Required  of  all. 


/I.  Sociology, 

2.  Administration, 

3.  American  Hist., 


3 


And  one  of  the  following 
'  Optional  Courses. 


j  Optional  Courses,  -  looking  to  Teaching,  Law, 

2(lYB2ir,  Journalism  and  Business. 


I.  — Logic  and  Morals,  3  hrs. 

Anct.  History,  2  “ 

II.  — Roman  Law,  2  “ 

\  General  Jurisprud.  3  “ 


III.  — Cot.  His.  &  Geo.,  3  hrs. 

Stylistics,  2  “ 

IV.  — Accounting,  3 

Com.  Law,  2  “ 


Required  of  all. 


1.  Finance,  2  hrs. 

2.  Economic  Hist.,  4  “ 

3.  Const.  Hist.,  2  “ 

4.  Internat.  Law,  2  “ 

3il  Year. 

I.  — Pedagogics,  5  hrs. 

II.  — Hist.  Com.  Law,  5  “ 


And  one  of  the  following 
Optional  Courses. 


II. — Pract.  in  Reporting  and 
Editorial  Writ.,  5  hrs. 
IV. — Mercantile  Prac.  and 
Manag’t  of  Prop.  5  hrs. 


ROSTER. 


SUBJECT. 


i  c 

!  3’' 


Political  Economy, 

Civil  Government,  . 

Logic, . 

English, . 

History,  Modern,  . 
Sociology,  .... 
Administration, 

American  History, 

Finance, . 

Economic  History, 
Constitutional  History, 
International  Law, 

Ancient  History, 

» 

Logic  and  Morals,  . 

Roman  Law,  .... 
General  Jurisprudence, 

Stylistics, . 

Cotemp.  Hist,  and  Geog., 

x4ccounting, . 

Commercial  Law, 
Pedagogics, . 

Hist.  Common  Law, 
Practice  in  Reporting  and 
Editorial  Writing, 
Manag.  Prop,  and  Merc.  Prac 


First  Year. 


3'  I 

2  j  . 

2  I 

3 


I  I 


15 


Second  Year, 


*tI4 


Third  Year. 


*i|t2tt3il4| 


15  15  13  15  15  15  15  15 


*  Teaching,  f  Law.  J  Journalism.  T[  Business. 


►  »  • 


% 


